1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system and a method for maintaining a ski slope using snowmaking apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, it is necessary to evenly press down freshly fallen snow in order to maintain the ski slope. This is done by pressing down fresh snow and uniformizing the snow surface over a large area using a snow compressing vehicle.
When using the snowmaking apparatus, it is also required to spread and compress snow produced by snowmaking apparatus in a way similar to one described above. That is, when artificial snow is supplied by the snowmaking apparatus due to natural snow shortage, the produced artificial snow needs to be spread over a desired area or, especially, transported to areas where snow is scarce since the artificial snow is distributed unevenly on the ski slope.
Traditionally, whether or not the snowmaking apparatus should be operated is determined based on a human""s visual check on snow coverage or on actual snow coverage measurement at selected points. Often, ski slope maintenance itself is performed by a snow compressing vehicle operator who maintains the snow surface while visually checking the snow condition.
However, this method produces inconsistent results depending on experiences and skills of each maintenance worker. Also in some cases, efficiency of ski slope maintenance may become compromised due to unnecessary operations of the snowmaking apparatus and the snow compressing vehicle.
A purpose of the present invention, created in consideration of the above circumstances, is to provide a system and a method which are capable of producing consistent results in the ski slope maintenance regardless of experiences and skills of ski slope maintenance workers.
A more specific purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and a system which enable efficient operation of a snowmaking apparatus and a snow compression machine.
To attain the above objectives, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for maintaining a ski slope with a plurality of snowmaking apparatuses, comprising: means for obtaining a geographical position of a snow compressing vehicle which is used for maintaining the ski slope; means for comparing said geographical position of the snow compressing vehicle and geographical information of a snowless ski slope to thereby calculate snow coverage at each position of the ski slope; means for determining snow supplement necessity based on the snow coverage at each position of the ski slope and outputting a required snow supplement amount in association with each position; and means for calculating a required operating rate for the snowmaking apparatus based on the required snow supplement amount for each portion of the ski slope.
According to a structure described above, it is possible to precisely measure the snow coverage at each position of the ski slope and operate each snowmaking apparatus at an optimum operating rate. Thus, it is possible to perform consistent and efficient maintenance of the ski slope.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the aforesaid snow compressing vehicle position obtaining means obtains the snow compressing vehicle position through a GPS (Global Positioning System) which is installed on this snow compressing vehicle.
According to another embodiment, the aforesaid snow supplement necessity determination means calculates an average value of the snow coverage in a predetermined range and calculates the snow supplement necessity and the required snow supplement amount for each position of the ski slope based on the aforesaid average value.
According to still another embodiment, the aforesaid snowmaking apparatus operating rate calculation means sums the required snow supplement amount for positions which belong to a range covered by each snowmaking apparatus and calculates the required operating rate for each snowmaking apparatus.
According to yet another embodiment, the aforesaid snowmaking apparatus operating rate calculation means calculates the required operating rate for the aforesaid snowmaking apparatus in addition to the aforesaid required snow supplement amount based on a snow melting amount.
According to still another embodiment, the aforesaid snowmaking apparatus operating rate calculation means receives temperature, humidity and wind velocity data for positions where each snowmaking apparatus is installed and estimates the aforesaid snow melting amount based on the aforesaid temperature, humidity and wind velocity data.
According to yet another embodiment, the aforesaid snowmaking apparatus operating rate calculation means issues an operating command to each snowmaking apparatus based on a calculated operating rate.
According to still another one embodiment, this system further has means for issuing a snow compressing command to the aforesaid snow compression vehicle for each position of the ski slope based on the snow supplement necessity and the required snow supplement amount for each position of the ski slope.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for maintaining the ski slope provided with a plurality of snowmaking apparatuses, comprising the steps of: obtaining the snow compressing vehicle position for the snow compressing vehicle used for maintaining the ski slope; comparing the snow compressing vehicle position, the snow compressing vehicle position obtained by snow compressing vehicle position obtaining means, and geographical information of the snowless ski slope to thereby calculate snow coverage at each position of the ski slope; determining the snow supplement necessity for each position of the ski slope and outputting the required snow supplement amount in association with each position; and calculating a required operating rate for the aforesaid snowmaking apparatus based on the required snow supplement amount, the aforesaid required snow supplement amount determined by snow supplement necessity determination means.
Other characteristics and marked effects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon referring to explanations of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings explained below.